Conversation Cure-All
by LilyGhost
Summary: While trying to prolong their Rangeman day, Stephanie finally gets herself and Ranger their someday.


**Anybody and anything familiar belongs to Janet. The mistakes are solely mine.**

"Can I ask you something?" I said to Ranger.

He had pulled up to my apartment building's front entrance, but even after putting a solid eight Rangeman-hours in, and The Boss treating me to pizza at Shorty's afterwards because I love the pizza but am scared to go there without him, I'm not in any hurry to get out of Batman's truck. And not only due to Ranger always looking and smelling so delicious it's hard to separate yourself from him.

"You can try," was his response to my question.

"Meaning you're not going to give me an answer?"

He killed the engine and turned his muscled-torso my way. "I share with you everything I'm able to, Babe. And I'll always try to give you what you need."

"Okay ..."

Now that I have his full attention, I'm not so sure I'm ready for it. Maybe I'm not as prepared for this conversation as I was five minutes ago. Unfortunately, or _fortunately _depending on how this goes, once Ranger senses a shift in the force ... or just _in me _... he's all over it.

"What did you want to ask me?"

"Ahhhh ..."

"_Stephanie_," he not-so-subtly ordered.

His voice alone is hard to resist, but he added his touch to the mix, curling his index finger under my chin so he could turn my face to be facing his. I took a deep breath that I know he felt and heard, and blurted out just a few of the thoughts that lately have been keeping me up at night.

"Do you see this thing between us as just a game ... something to keep yourself amused while you're stuck in Trenton? If I were ready to tell you that I love you, would it change anything? Would you care? Or would you just forget all about me the minute you're 'in the wind' again?"

There ... I did it and said it. _Sorta_. But the silence that met my jumble of questions had me wishing I could put a kibosh on this fishing-for-his-feelings expedition.

"Ummm ... I know what I was _hoping_ you'd say when I finally admitted what you've already guessed, and I also kept in mind what I was afraid you could say, but I was expecting you to at least say ... _something_," I told him, quick to fill the void with nervous chatter.

"I _care_," he finally said. "I haven't forgotten a single word of anything you've said to me, or anybody else, since I've known you. And I won't forget a single thing about this specific moment since it's the one I've been waiting on."

I wanted to breathe easier, but my lungs and stomach are still stuck on _full-clench_. The feeling of impending doom eased when he clarified his statement.

"Not only do I try to answer as truthfully as I can, Steph, I don't waste my time saying things I don't mean. I would never have told you that I love you unless that's how I felt ... and continue to feel."

"I didn't peg you for the kind of guy to lie just to get me into bed, but ..."

"But what? Let's get everything out in the open while we're already scaling some walls."

"I was married to a guy who used the Burg against me, cheated on me, and didn't seem to like or care about me before, during, or after, our disaster of a marriage. And then I allowed myself to get lured back into Morelli's shit, only to be burned, humiliated, and hurt, _all over again. _I couldn't let my emotions get involved with you until I felt a hundred-percent sure that you'd be serious about getting serious with me _someday_. I'm probably too screwed-up to ever make a normal relationship work, let alone if the guy I'm honest-to-goodness in love with isn't invested in he and I becoming an _US_."

"I've been invested in you since day one. If nothing else, you should know that by now."

"I know that on a _work_-front, but it's the _home front _aspect of your care that I've been wondering more and more about. Like ... if I got the flu, would you call in sick yourself and personally nurse me back to health? Just order soup from the deli to be delivered and then steer clear of me until I'm kissable again? Or would you conveniently book a mission a world away and then believe enough time had passed so a well-check wouldn't be needed or expected?"

That got a small smile out of him. "I'd immediately move you into my apartment so I'd be able to worry slightly less about you. I'd ask Ella to make fresh bone broth everyday with garlic and ginger added to speed your recovery, and I'd give you hourly sponge-baths to keep your temperature down and mine up. I don't get sick, but what would _you _do if I were ever to come down with something?"

"I'd do everything I could for you on my own except cook, because I wouldn't want to accidentally poison you, until all your healthy cells had a chance to regenerate, but I'll warn you now that I tend to throw up if I see someone else throwing up ... so that could be a problem. But I suppose at least we'd be miserable _together_."

His hand had dropped from my face to my leg when he got his way and I began talking. It now moved back towards my head but continued on to slide into my curls. I was almost embarrassed by the way my face immediately turned to press a kiss into his palm.

"It's the thought and intent that counts," he told me, with another private smile tacked on as a bonus.

"I do think about you a lot, if that helps."

"It does."

Two words were all he said, but I was still watching his mouth with fascination because it started moving closer to mine. When it touched down, I was toast. My lips parted, my heart relaxed, and my brain shut down. My mouth was allowed to run on feelings alone.

That must've worked for both of us, because he changed his hold on me to pull me from the passenger's side of his truck to his lap, sandwiching my body between his and the steering wheel. The kissing resumed and definitely intensified. I swear I can feel each individual whisker making up the well-past-five o'clock shadow on Ranger's jaw, which are now pressing into my much-softer skin.

I can't say I'm new to making out in a vehicle, but this is different. Ranger's hands stayed curled around my head and hip. He didn't try to cop a cheap feel while I'm clearly in the mood. Honestly, just being kissed by him is foreplay. He doesn't need to try heating up other hot spots, they've all been simmering since his mouth slanted across mine. We're both fully confident in what he can do, and what he draws out of me. Instead of rushing to scarf down the entire meal while I'm feeling hungry, with _him _... I prefer slowing down and savoring each course, relishing the building anticipation for the one coming next.

Which got my brain back to thinking. "Do you wanna park and come up?" I asked.

I'm assuming that Ranger-influenced voice belongs to me.

"Who's sick in your building?" He surprised me by asking.

"Huh?"

No doubt about it, the man messes with my mind. It's no longer firing on all cylinders.

"You used the flu to get me to expand on my commitment to you, which means someone you know has been sick recently."

"Yeah, my above and next-door neighbors. Don't ask how I know that when I haven't spoken to either one this week. All I'll say is this building's walls are paper thin ... and _all kinds _of noises can be heard through them."

_Shit! _Now my brain has gone into _over_thinking.

"Considering the noises I'm going to coax out of you tonight ... instead of parking, I'm going to go ahead and drive us to my place," he offered, correctly guessing my current fear. "My walls are bullet and soundproof. Plus your car's still in my garage, you'll need a ride to work anyway. We could spend that time we'd be on the road still curled up in my bed or taking an extra long shower."

I sighed into him and then shivered against him as his words penetrated. "Good point. And my neighbors really don't need to know _that much _about me ... or _you _for that matter." I gave him an embarrassed grin. "You tend to put me in an _extremely complimentary _mood at times. I'll just go grab Rex ... if that's alright. He's been alone all day. I'd hate to abandon him again for the night."

"It's going to be a hell of a lot longer than one night," Ranger teased ... or maybe _warned _is a better word. "And I'll go get him. Although I'm prepared for all worst case scenarios, we shouldn't put the flu-test into effect until we have a few years of being together under our belts."


End file.
